On the morning of April 6, 1972, three Clay County deputies went to a home about a half-mile northwest of McDougal, Arkansas, to serve a warrant for assault with intent to kill on 52-year-old Elbert Ray Bert Grissom. As Deputy Sheriff Glendal Ray Archer, Sheriff Douglas Batey and Deputy Troy Key exited their vehicle in the driveway, Grissom opened fire with a 12-gauge shotgun.

The first blasts instantly killed Sheriff Batey, 49, and Deputy Archer, 35. Deputy Key was critically wounded and survived for ten days before dying of his injuries. Grissom was found sitting on his truck’s tailgate when officers arrived and was arrested without further incident; he was charged with three counts of first-degree murder.

Archer had served four years with the Clay County Sheriff’s Department and left a wife and five children. Does anyone have firsthand memories of the Clay County department or that night in McDougal?